GOLD COAST, Australia – It took a couple clips to the chin to get his attention, but Cody Donovan made a short-notice statement.

Donovan was knocked down twice by Nick Penner in the first round, but he survived and came back to earn a TKO stoppage in his UFC debut – a debut that came on only about 10 days’ notice.

The light heavyweight bout opened up the preliminary card of Friday’s UFC on FX 6 event at Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It aired on FUEL TV prior to a main card on FX.

Donovan clinched up early after landing a body punch, but Penner reversed position on the fence. As Donovan moved in, Penner landed a big counter right hand that dropped the newcomer to the canvas. Penner moved in on the ground, but Donovan recovered quickly and looked for a triangle attempt that forced Penner to get back to his feet.

But not long after they returned to the standup game, Donovan again moved in, and Penner again made him pay with a right uppercut. On the ground, Donovan, working from his back, looked for a heel hook – and that chased Penner back to his feet.

After a short ground scramble when the fight moved back to the floor, it was Donovan who caught Penner with an overhand left to the side of the head. Penner hit the canvas, and Donovan moved in quickly to land enough punches to get the stoppage at 4:35 of the first.

“I got clipped early and my game plan just went out the window,” Donovan said. “Nick has got some serious power and when he caught me early with that uppercut, it really was a rude awakening and snapped me into game mode. I felt he had the reach on me, so the game plan was to take it to the floor and utilize my jiu-jitsu – but it didn’t go my way. I saw the opening for the left hook, and it just happened.”

Donovan (8-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who trains at Grudge Training Center in Denver, won for the fourth straight time and has three stoppages in that stretch. Penner (11-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) falls to 0-2 in the UFC with both losses coming in Australia after a first-round TKO loss against Anthony Perosh in March that came with just one second left in the frame.

The Latest

In this week’s Trading Shots, Danny Downes and Ben Fowlkes look at Ronda Rousey’s 34-second victory over Bethe Correia at UFC 190 and try to put it into terms that capture the moment without getting swept away by it.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?